This invention relates to fishing lures and decoys, and particularly to an electronic fishing lure having a microcontroller therein for activating one or more of several programmed modes of operation, and which is automatically activated upon contact with water.
Fishing lures have been around for many years, and in the past have taken many forms, a typical lure having at least one fishing hook disguised or attached to something to entice food or game fish to bite at. As most of these fish are predatory in nature, i.e. secondary or even tertiary consumers, lures most often take the form of some sort of food for the fish to be caught. Such lures may be configured as frogs, crayfish, worms, other small fish and the like, and are typically successful when pulled through the water with a jerking motion or other motions to simulate a swimming frog or crayfish. Other lure devices, such as spinners, spoons, poppers, etc., are constructed of a shiny material and designed to be noisily dragged fairly rapidly across the surface of a fishing area to simulate an injured or fleeing critter that might be good for a predatory fish to eat.
One problem with these lures is that for the most part, they are inanimate objects and rely on skill of the fisherman pulling it through the water in order to simulate food for the fish. Where the fisherman is inexperienced at dragging the lure through the water or conditions are not right for the fish to feed, then the fish simply will not bite at the lure. In other instances, the fish become acclimated to lures, and learn to distinguish between a lure and food. As a result, there is a need for a lure that is more alluring to fish so as to cause them to bite at a lure under sub-optimal conditions.
Accordingly, it is one object of the invention to provide a fishing lure that more closely simulates living food for the fish to be caught. This is done by providing a variety of modes of electronic operation of the lure which may include light visible to the fish, vibration that the fish may feel, sound that the fish may hear and an electrical field around the lure that simulates an electrical nerve field of a living animal. A microcontroller may be used with any or all of the above features to sequence them in any order, and may include pauses between operation of the various modes. Other objects of the invention will become clear upon a reading of the following specification.
A fishing lure which may be configured as a frog, small fish, crawfish or any other fishing lure is provided, the lure used as a casement, housing or the like for an insert of the invention. The insert forms a watertight housing with an electrical power supply therein, and circuitry in the insert coupled to the power supply. Also coupled to the circuitry is an electrical device that when energized, makes the casement more attractive as bait to a fish. For activating the circuitry and the device, a pair of contacts serves to switch the circuitry and associated device ON when the contacts are bridged by water.